Can Toprol -XL Be Taken For Orthostatic Hypotension?

Posted on Wed, 28 Jun 2017

Question: My wife is still no better and her cardiologist has just added to her drug regime taking 25mg. of Toprol -XL daily. I just read that this is ordinarily for high blood pressure. You and others believe she has orthostatic hypotension. For a second opinion, does this seem like the appropriate medicine to you?

Many thanks.
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Answered by Dr. Sagar Makode (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I don't agree with toprol

Detailed Answer:
Has her bp is in hypertensive range lately. I don't think this will be beneficial to her. This is given for hypertension, tachycardias etc. so apparently, I don't find any benefit.
You monitor her blood pressure, sometimes with florinef blood pressure may rise and may need antihypertensive.
If symptoms are occurring during getting up from sitting position, then it has to be orthostatic hypotension only. You continue to monitor postural drop in bp.
Regarding her symptoms, if no improvement is being noted then dose of florinef needs to be increased, from 0.1 to 0.2 then gradually can be increased further.
We could also try other drugs like midodrine which may be helpful after florinef fails.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy